Life Update | Winning, Setbacks, Sad News & Holibobs

Hi guys, it’s been a while since I threw a life update out on the blog, and after all that has happened recently, I felt the time was right. Myself and Si are off to Corfu this Friday, and a few weeks ago we were super excited as life had started to improve! Sadly, the universe always seems to throw curveballs, in some peoples direction more so than others, so I thought I’d bring you up to speed.

Image – Pexels

Those of you who follow my blog or Instagram will know, I hit a difficult patch with my mental health/wellbeing at the beginning of the year, so I started on a path to improve things. My new GP that I started seeing last year, is great. She is knowledgeable of my chronic pain conditions and understanding of my problematic bod. She has tried several different types of HRT with me since last August, and finally, I think we might be getting somewhere, but I will leave that for a later post specifically on Menopause. As to my mental health, I bit the bullet and sought anti-depressants which she started me on back in April, but as I ended up having repetitive zig-zag or ‘aura’ migraines, I had to stop the medication.

Around that time, myself and Si decided to book a holiday… to Corfu (yay!)

Image – Pixels

I decided to take on my mental wellbeing AND improve my body at the same time, by altering my diet and getting back into reformer Pilates. Drugs can have so many side effects/don’y work well, for a huge number of those of us with Fibromyalgia…its complex. I would rather tackle things myself, and the thought of our ‘holibobs’ in the sun kind of switched my mindset. I have never eaten an ‘unhealthy’ diet, but chose to cut out almost all sugar and fats, and switch to eating a lot of vegan & gluten free food. Generally going for different, healthier foodstuffs. I pushed through ‘some’ pain (apart from migraines), and hit into Pilates hard, along with walking. That might sound easy, but when you have chronic pain, the exercise part can be extremely hard. Sometimes I over cooked it and ended up paying for it, but it has made me feel so much better!

I still have some way to go before I am happier with my body shape, but a hip replacement and the menopause have not helped. I only went up a half size in 3 years since the hip trouble, but then going on HRT last year caused me to gain around 10 lbs. Now I am not a ‘stuffer’ by any means, but needed to take control and help myself, not only for how my body looks, but for health benefits too!

So, I’m getting there. Back in February I was on the brink of a breakdown, and in the shot below I was a big size 16. The photo underneath was from this week, (aside from my ‘boobs’ which are hard to shift), showing a happier me and a size 14. Winning!

Setbacks..

Then, about 4 weeks ago I came down the stairs with searing a pain in the middle of my right foot. I simply put it down to having problems from my injury 4 years ago, where it has never been the same since. I had constant pain for weeks, but after a day out in Exeter where I could hardly put my foot down, I decided to get it investigated.

I was told by my GP (on the phone), and the nurse at the hospital (after an x-ray), it was nothing serious, probably a Morton’s Neroma or Metatarsalgia. So I kept walking and exercised, pushing through the pain. Then a call from the hospital a couple of days later, informed me they had taken a closer look at my x-ray. Turns out I have a stress fracture of the 3rd Metatarsal…and a rocker boot should be worn (most of the time), for 6-8 weeks. Great right?!

It makes me walk unevenly as its higher than all my footwear, so it chucks my spine out and hurts my groin where I had the hip replacement. It is going to be so hot wearing it on holiday, although I don’t intend to be in it for long, only when needs must. Attractive photos from Corfu coming your way, ha ha! Seriously, its a bloomin’ pain, as it is now preventing me from exercising. I’m annoyed as my hard effort is now halted.

Then the sad news came…

I took our dear boy to the vets recently to undergo anaesthetic, in order to check some things that had been concerning me for several weeks. An irregular heartbeat, laboured, noisy breathing and generally not seeming himself. He had a teeth scale, a throat scope, plus a heart ECG, x-ray and scan.

After my mum recently losing Flynn’s mum and litter brother within almost a week (which broke our hearts), I was determined to get my best friend checked over thoroughly. It has been a difficult time, as any of you guys with fur babies will totally get!

The heart murmur that the vet could hear was cause for concern, and awaiting the results worried me. People told me not to and that it would probably be nothing…which I did so hope. Sadly, the results showed he has congenital heart disease, like his brother, he has an enlarged heart. Plus a leaky Tricuspid valve, and some fluid in the sac around the heart. The noisy breathing is due to Laryngeal paralysis, which Labs are prone to, where the flaps in the throat don’t open as they should. Thankfully, at the moment his are not fully closed, so airways remain pretty free.

With recommendation from our vets, we put him straight on a heart medication that can improve the quality of his life, and hopefully extend it. Being told by your vet that if this had gone unnoticed/untreated, we would have lost him to heart failure within a year… was a bitter pill to swallow. They seem to think I caught it at the right time and now we have to monitor him regularly, and simply make sure his life is a little slower and calmer. We are taking him in for an update scan the day before our holiday, to check if the fluid has drained from around the heart…fingers crossed.

I’d cut off my right arm for this boy, he is my rock, always there for me when I am ill and such a fun buddy. I helped bring him into this world, and I am damn sure I want to be holding him when he has to leave! I’m having a job to see my screen right now for tears…he is so, so precious to both myself, and Si! He is the most loving and well behaved dog we could wish for, and I know one day he will break my heart…I just hope it’s later, rather than sooner.

Which leads me on to ‘holibobs’…

Image – @marbellacorfuhotel Instagram

A few weeks ago, I simply could not wait to go as it will be our 1st holiday in Corfu, and I was really looking forward to a well deserved break for us. Now? Well, aside from hobbling and sweating, lugging around a ‘Stormtrooper’ boot on my foot, I will be constantly worrying if my boy is okay. I don’t mean to sound a party pooper here, but just when you think life is looking up, it hands out the turd card again.

On the positive side (of which I MUST err), my boy is in the best possible hands with my mum, and the resort we are heading off to looks absolutely bloody blissful! If I can, I intend to make the most of it, relax, unwind and totally enjoy our time there. I will share some snippets over on my Instagram stories for you guys..and if its raining where you you are at the time… I’m sorry tough!! ;) Now, I must get back to sorting that packing!

See you on the other side,

Heidi x

I hope you enjoyed this life update and I’m planning to get another post lined up whilst I’m away for you guys. If I don’t manage to get it finished in time, I will share my holiday products/outfits when I return!

Ah thank you, yes..they give us so much joy and need us when they are ill to look after them! We have had a bad five years so we needed a holiday, going to have another this year too!Thanks so much x
H x